“Connected lighting” refers to a system of luminaires which are remotely controlled via a communication protocol, usually over a wireless communication channel such as a channel of a wireless network. Typically, each of a plurality of luminaires, or even each individual lamps within a luminaire, may be equipped with a wireless receiver or transceiver for receiving lighting control commands from a lighting control device according to a wireless networking protocol such as ZigBee, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth (and optionally also for sending status reports to the lighting control device using the wireless networking protocol). For instance the lighting control device may take the form of a user terminal, e.g. a portable user terminal such as a smartphone, tablet, laptop or smart watch; or a static user terminal such as a desktop computer or wireless wall-panel. In such cases the lighting control commands may originate from a lighting control application (“app”) running on the user terminal, based on user inputs provided to the application by the user through a user interface of the user terminal (e.g. a touch screen or point-and-click interface). The user device may send the lighting control commands to the luminaires directly, or via one or more intermediate devices such as a wireless router, access point or lighting bridge.
A “connected” arrangement can also be used to control other appliances such as heating, ventilation, air conditioning, alarms (e.g. smoke alarms or CO detectors), sensors (e.g. security cameras or presence sensors), etc.
When an existing, traditional wired installation is upgraded to a wireless connected system, often there is the need to offer switching functionality for the new wireless system at the same location as the old system—i.e. the user expects to find the switches at the same location within the room (or more generally environment). However significant effort and cost are typically involved in replacing the wired switches with wireless switches.
DE102004047114 discloses a wireless module that retrofits onto a traditional wired rocker switch by means of a double-sided adhesive tape. The switch may be a light switch or other household switch. To fit the module, the user peels away a protective film on the underside of the tape and then uses the exposed adhesive of the tape to stick the wireless module to the front surface of the rocker. The module comprises an accelerometer and a wireless transmitter. When the rocker switch is pressed by a user a wireless signal is transmitted to a wireless receiver. The wireless module is powered independently by means of a small battery.